Latest News - Page 644

Corsair has just unveiled an all-white version of its RMx SHIFT power supplies, which range from 750W to 1200W, with new side-mounted connectors. The company has a video going over it all below:

The family of RMx SHIFT power supplies feature a side-mounted DC connector panel which makes for neater cable management, but you'll want to make sure you've got the room in your case to handle power cables feeding into the PSU on those side-mounted connectors.

Corsair provides PC builders with access to all the micro-fit cables through the side-mounted connectors, which makes for quicker and easier installation, and maintenance -- like installing some more SSDs or additional fans -- without digging around in your system. The cable design from Corsair also reportedly reduces cable strain by minimizing bending and testing, which makes for longer-lasting cables and connectors.

We all know Sony is working on a beefed-up PlayStation 5 Pro console for later this year, but now we're hearing news about a new Xbox console that has just hit South Korean regulatory offices.

The South Korean Radio Research Agency (RRA) regulatory office received a new Microsoft Xbox Development Kit (XDK) for testing, which is usually part of the procedure before new hardware launches in a few months' time. We saw the Xbox 360 console back in 2005 being sent through regulatory offices before the console hit retailers a month later.

We could expect a refreshed Xbox Series X console in an all-white design without a disc, similar to the PlayStation 5 Slim released last year by Sony. Microsoft could release an all-digital Xbox Series X or even a new Xbox Series Pro. This isn't the next-generation Xbox, as that is still a few years away... leaving Grand Theft Auto 6 players in 2025 flocking to Sony's upgraded PlayStation 5 Pro console if they want to experience the best of what Rockstar has to offer (before GTA 6 comes to the PC, that is).

We heard about Sony's new PlayStation Spatial Super Resolution (PSSR) technology from new leaks last week, but now the folks at Digital Foundry have torn through the rumors and provided some more information on the PlayStation 5 Pro console and its beefed-up hardware capabilities.

PSSR will reportedly be capable of being backported to any existing PlayStation game, which will make for some even better-looking PS5 games on the faster PS5 Pro console. Digital Foundry explains that Sony says PSSR has a 250MB memory footprint, but developer disclosures show that PSSR can be backported to ANY game... now we're talking.

Digital Foundry explained: "This is at odds with 'back compat plus' features bolted on to PS4 games running on PS5, which required games to run on modern development environments (SDKs). This could be of crucial importance in upgrading existing PS5 games that suffer from image quality problems - and we're seeing a lot of those thanks to low internal resolutions and FSR2 upscaling. The Pro could deliver vastly improved results via its extra GPU power and PSSR upscaling".

AMD shipped its Radeon RX 5600 XT graphics card with 6GB of memory, but now YouTuber and modder Paulo Gnomes has more than doubled the memory capacity from 6GB to an incredible 16GB.

Not only that, but the modder also increased the stock 192-bit memory bus up to a higher 256-bit memory bus, which, when overclocked, the PowerColor Radeon RX 5600 XT Red Devil graphics card that was modded was up to 29% faster than its stock 192-bit memory bus and stock 6GB of GDDR6.

The modder had to modify the BIOS on the Radeon RX 5600 XT Red Devil graphics card, adjusting the right hexadecimal code to tell the GPU to unlock the additional memory controllers inside of the Navi 10 GPU die.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is out in a couple of days, but the review embargo is lifted, and to say there's some high praise is an understatement - although it's tempered by concerns on the performance front for PC gamers.

Cleary, this much-awaited open world action RPG sequel has been extremely well received, offering immersion and depth aplenty, and an innovative pawn system, and... well, the positivity gushes on, frankly.

James Galizio, who reviewed the game for RPG Site, enthused: "At the best of times, Dragon's Dogma 2 feels far less like a game and more like a world you're exploring - learning about those that live in it, and in turn yourself by how you choose to engage with those same people. It's unlike any other RPG."

The iPhone has been around for a good long while now and since its introduction in 2007 Apple has been able to improve its display in all manner of ways. Those displays are bigger and brighter than ever, and dropping an iPhone doesn't necessarily mean that it will break as was once the case. However, scratching said iPhone seems to be an increasingly common problem and now there's a suggestion that Apple is working on a way to improve matters.

That's according to a report that claims Apple is readying a new type of anti-reflective coating that will make it harder to scratch an iPhone 17 or iPhone 17 Pro model, although the source of that report isn't Apple itself. The report comes via a post on the Chinese social network Weibo by the leaker Instant Digital, a leaker with a mixed track record albeit a relatively strong one in terms of iPhone predictions.

According to the leaker Apple has spent a small fortune on new coating equipment in Japan which has now been handed over to the supply chain companies in China. The new technology comes too late for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models, the leaker claims, which means that we will have to wait for the 2025 iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro before we can take it for a spin.

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models might have only been on sale since late 2023 but Apple was already likely well on its way to having its plans laid out for what comes next. That next thing is of course the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro devices and while they're not expected to debut until September this year, we continue to see more and more leaks ahead of time. Now, a new leak appears to have confirmed the belief that the new iPhones will sport super-thin bezels while also detailing how that will be made possible.

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max already had thinner bezels than anything we had seen from an iPhone before, but it now looks increasingly likely that the next round of iPhones will switch things up a bit. According to a new report that'll mean that Apple will have to use a new Border Reduction Structure (BRS) technology and it's only possible after some tweaks to the way that design dissipates heat. In fact, it's claimed that the technology was originally planned to be used on the iPhone 15 devices before Apple canned the idea over heat concerns.

This is all according to a Sisa Journal report that was picked up by MacRumors and details the way BRS works. The report says that BRS technology works by rolling up the internal copper wiring that allows for a more compact design which in turn gives Apple more opportunity to offer new, smaller bezels.

You only need to have taken a passive interest in the Apple rumor mill of late to know that the company is very much expected to unveil a pair of new iPad Pro tablets within the next few weeks. We expect the tablets to both sport OLED displays for the first time and come in 11- and 12.9-inch configurations, but it turns out that there might be another display tweak that has so far gone unnoticed.

That tweak, we're told, will be the option to choose a matte finish for the first time. It isn't yet clear whether that finish will be similar to the nano-texture finish on the Studio Display and Pro Display XDR, or if it will be little more than a screen protector. But this is the first that we've heard about it so it's possible there could be more leaks before we get to the final unveiling of these new high-end tablets.

The claim comes via Instant Digital, a leaker that posts to the Chinese social network Weibo. According to them, the new matte display will be offered as an extra option to the more familiar glossy display rather than replace it. It supposedly also features a -04-degree to +29-degree of haze and may also have some kind of anti-blue-light component as well. If that's the case it could make it easier to use an iPad Pro in the evening and at night while lessening the impact of blue light on the eyes.

An insider who provided the release time frame of Ghost of Tsushima days before it was officially announced has taken to X to tease a PC release date for God of War Ragnarok.

If you were hoping that God of War Ragnarok was arriving on PC sometime this year (as I was), you will likely be disappointed to learn that it won't be, that's if seemingly industry insider Siknigth is right about their prediction. Siknigth, an X account that appears to have connections within the industry that inform them of release dates that are under non-disclosure agreements (NDA), has taken to X to tease that God of War Ragnarok should be coming to PC in the first quarter of 2025, with the leaker writing, "if it arrives earlier, it's a gift, but I doubt it".

Judging by the leaker's comments, it seems that God of War Ragnarok would be an unexpected release if it made it to PC sometime this year, which would certainly be disappointing news for many if that information is correct. However, it wouldn't be totally unexpected to see God of War Ragnorok make its way over to PC eventually, as Sony is planning on bringing a lot of first-party PlayStation titles over to PC, with Ghost of Tsushima being the latest title announced for a PC debut on May 16.

In 2022, NASA launched a spacecraft at an asteroid to test if it was possible to deflect an asteroid should one ever be on a collision course with Earth. The test was deemed more than a success.

NASA launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which was a refrigerator-sized spacecraft at a 560-foot-wide asteroid named Dimorphos. This asteroid orbits a larger near-Earth asteroid called Didymos, with the smaller of the two (Dimorphos) orbiting its larger companion at a distance of approximately 3,900 feet, or one full orbit taking 11 hours and 55 minutes to complete.

DART successfully hit at an extremely high speed, and shortened Dimphos' orbital period by 32 minutes and 42 seconds, reducing Dimorphos' full orbit around Didymos to 11 hours, 22 minutes and 37 seconds. NASA writes in new press release that cites a study published in the Planetary Science Journal, Dimorphos' orbit slowly reduced over the following weeks, eventually reducing its orbital distance to 3,780 feet, or by about 120 feet.

Intel's Arc Graphics platform, which covers discrete desktop GPUs like the Intel Arc A750 and mobile chips like the new Intel Core Ultra 155H with Intel Arc built-in, is designed for modern gamers and creators - leveraging the latest PC tech. For creators, Intel Arc offers hardware video encoding and decoding covering AVC, HEVC, and AV1.

This is all handled by Arc's Intel Xe Media Engine. In a new blog post (and video), Intel explains precisely what encoding and decoding video is about while presenting benchmarks for its Arc hardware - comparing performance to competing products. The post doubles as an excellent primer for learning about video compression and decompression while showcasing why a GPU-based hardware solution is essential in 2024.

In its head-to-head transcoding comparisons, we see the Intel Arc A750 versus the GeForce RTX 4060 and the Intel Core Ultra 155H versus the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U. And in a lot of workloads, Arc pulls ahead.

A battle royale mode for World of Warcraft? Yes, this one feels a little out of left field with the new limited-time, pirate-themed Plunderstorm event now live as part of the game's 10.2.6 update. And yes, it is indeed a battle royale, with Blizzard's description stating, "The last one standing on a shrinking map will be declared the winner, but everyone who participates will make progress on reward tracks."

The mode is open to all active WoW players, including WoW Classic players - so it's not limited to the latest Dragonflight expansion. Plunderstorm supports Solo and Duo, with watch matches lasting roughly 10 to 15 minutes with a maximum of 60 players. So then, with WoW being an MMO, you might be wondering how it works.

First, you won't actually be taking your characters into the mode. Instead, you'll select a character, level up, and acquire abilities as you plunder the Arathi Highlands. You're also limited to a handful of abilities, so unlike traditional WoW, there's no hot bar with dozens of skills.

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition is out this week, bringing the highly anticipated PlayStation exclusive to the PC platform. Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the first major PS4 to PC ports, and this sequel, built to take advantage of the more powerful PS5 hardware, will present a significant visual upgrade to the original. A massive open-world action adventure, the Complete Edition includes the PS5-only Burning Shores expansion.

In addition to supporting unlocked frame rates, ultrawide displays, and advanced graphics settings to take advantage of modern GPUs, it will arrive on day one with NVIDIA DLSS 3, DLAA, and Reflex support. And with that, NVIDIA's latest GeForce Game Ready Driver 551.86 - WHQL with optimizations for Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition. Download it here.

Usually, NVIDIA provides benchmarks for high-profile releases like this. Instead, it reiterates Sony's performance info, where GeForce RTX 4080 gamers can expect solid 4K 60 FPS performance using the game's 'Very High' quality setting without DLSS. OF course, DLSS will present a notable free performance bump for all GeForce RTX owners.

One of the most talked about and exciting gaming hardware stories of the year has been Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro (codenamed Trinity) specs, which were leaked via internal documents. Multiple sources, including Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, confirm the information as correct. The specs show a powerful ray tracing console with AI hardware to deliver Sony's custom DLSS upscaling tech, PSSR, or PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution.

The PS5 Pro is on track for a holiday 2024 release. It is 45% more powerful for rendering than the existing PS5 and has up to 3X the ray-tracing performance due to its potential use of the new AMD RDNA 4 architecture. Sony has yet to announce the console formally, and leaks have stolen some of its thunder. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson suggests that Sony is currently in damage control.

Taking to X, he says, "Sony has launched an internal investigation into the leaked documents on Trinity as it leaked during a third-party rollout."

SpaceX has recently completed its third orbital test flight of the largest and most powerful rocket ever created, Starship.

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX is already talking about how Starship will eventually be sent to other star systems, or solar systems to investigate the planets surrounding the target star. Musk took to his personal X account to write the Starship we are seeing launched lately is designed to explore the solar system, while a future Starship that will feature a much larger and more advanced design will be able to travel to "other star systems".

The details on this "future Starship" weren't given, but if Musk is planning on making an even larger rocket than the current Starship, it would need to be at least 401-feet tall, as the model stands fully stacked with its Super Heavy booster at a whopping 400-feet-tall, or 122 meters. Additionally, the current model is capable of carrying up to 165 tons to orbit, and comparatively, SpaceX's workhorse rocket, which is regularly used as a transportation method to orbit, is only capable of 25 tons.

ASUS has issued a new press release detailing the launch of two new gaming monitors under its ROG Strix series.

Introducing the XG27UCS and XG27ACS, which feature a new stand design that has a smaller footprint and smartphone support. Typically, "support" in technology means software, but in the case of ASUS's two latest monitors, it should be taken in the literal sense, as the stands feature a groove designed to keep smartphones upright. The only differing specifications between the XG27UCS and XG27ACS are the resolution and refresh rate; the rest of the specifications are the exact same.

The XG27UCS is a 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) resolution display with a 160Hz refresh rate, and the XG27ACS is a 2560 x 1440 resolution display with a 180Hz refresh rate. Both of the models feature a 1ms (GtG) response time, come with NVIDIA G-Synch compatibility, and a wide DCI-P3 gamut that delivers colors and contrast that reaches DisplayHDR 400 certification requirements. Furthermore, ASUS has outfitted both of the displays with various connectivity options such as 1 x HDMI (v2.0), 1x DisplayPort (v1.4), 1 x USB Type-C (DP Alt mode), and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Humans have discovered quite a bit about Mars, with the Red Planet being the most explored planet in the solar system as multiple rovers have and are traversing the surface gathering data that is then sent back home.

With this data, researchers were able to theorize with substantial evidence that Mars was once home to water, which created now ancient river systems. These river systems, or their remains, were observed by NASA's Perseverance rover, leading scientists to believe that Mars once had liquid water that may have harbored life. The theory that Mars was once home to life hinges on the fact that the Red Planet once had water, but what if Mars never had as much water as what we think?

A new study suggests that the evidence of ancient water systems on Mars, which are the carvings thought to be created by flowing water, may not have been created by water at all, but instead, by explosively evaporating carbon dioxide ice. Notably, Mars' atmosphere consists of approximately 95% carbon dioxide, and when temperatures drop to -120 degrees Celsius (-184 Fahrenheit), the carbon dioxide freezes so fast it skips the liquid phase.

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, the biggest YouTuber on the planet, revealed during an interview that he is working on a new unscripted reality competition series with Amazon MGM Studios.

Donaldson sat down for an interview with Colin and Samir to discuss aspects of the show following reports from late January that teased Donaldson was close to closing a $100 million deal with Amazon Prime Video. While Donaldson didn't confirm if the deal was worth $100 million, he did confirm the show is being made and that it will feature the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming, and that it will be a fusion of his MrBeast YouTube videos and standard reality competition.

The new series will be called "Beast Games" and will feature 1,000 contestants who will be competing for a $5 million cash prize, which will be the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming, according to Amazon MGM Studios' press release. During the interview, Donaldson agreed that this deal is a historic moment for the YouTube community, as previous collaborations with influencers and streaming platforms performed below expectations.

Respawn Entertainment, the developers behind Apex Legends, responded to the recent mid-game hack that occurred during the Apex Legends NA regional finals.

For those that don't know, here's a quick rundown of the events. The Apex Legends Global Series is currently underway and is in the stage of regional finals. North American teams were going up against each other in an online match and during that match at least two players were injected with cheats such as aimbot and wallhacks.

This hack sparked a grave warning for millions of gamers as it was unknown if the security vulnerability, reported as an RCE issue, was within Apex Legends or Easy Anti-Cheat, the software the game uses to prevent hacking.

Yesterday, we examined AI's use to create digital human characters (NPCs) as part of a new Covert Protocol tech demo from Inworld and NVIDIA. Using the Inworld AI engine with NVIDIA ACE, which includes NVIDIA Riva Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and NVIDIA Audio2Face (A2F) for speech and animation, the demo gave a glimpse at a potential AI-powered future for games.

At GDC 2024, Ubisoft and its developers at Ubisoft Paris presented their demo, Project NEO NPC, in partnership with NVIDIA and Inworld. Using Inworld's extensive Character Engine with LLM technology, the team created NPCs with complete backgrounds, knowledge, and distinct conversational styles Ubisoft leveraging NVIDIA Audio2Face.

"Characters are programmed to react to player prompts in certain ways, or not react, depending on their personalities," Ubisoft writes in its blog post. Narrative Director Virginie Mosser at Ubisoft Paris adds, "For the first time in my life, I can have a conversation with a character I've created. I've dreamed of that since I was a kid."